26-year-old Edwards, who was leading this year's edition of the F1 support series Porsche Supercup, was killed on Tuesday at a circuit in Queensland.

He was in Australia on driver coaching duties, and was in the passenger seat when the Porsche GT3 hit the wall at 210kph and burst into flames.

Edwards, who was killed instantly, had recently appeared in the new F1 feature film Rush, playing his father Guy who was one of the brave drivers who pulled Niki Lauda from his burning Ferrari in 1976.

"Sad period in the racing world due to the loss of Maria de Villota and Sean Edwards, who I went to school with," said Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg on Twitter.